It wasn’t long ago that the world’s major banks, including Macquarie, were collectively mobilising to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.
In April 2021, now Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney launched the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ). By the time COP21 rolled around in November that year, around 450 financial institutions representing $130 trillion in assets were committed to net zero.
Mark Carney recognised this landmark agreement saying: “We now have the essential plumbing in place to move climate change from the fringes to the forefront of finance so that every financial decision takes climate change into account.”
At the front of this wave was the Macquarie Group.
While Australia was coming under fire for the Morrison government’s lack of climate ambition at COP26 in Glasgow, Macquarie’s CEO, Shemara Wikramanayake, was being recognised as a ‘de facto leader’ of Australia at the UN climate change conference.
